New Delhi: Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Panama papers, sources said today.
She was summoned for questioning in the case linked to the 2016 global tax leaks case on 20 December.
Aishwarya Bachchan, 48, the daughter-in-law of superstar Amitabh Bachchan, has been asked to depose before the agency in Delhi.
According to reports, the leaked documents were originally obtained by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. At least 12,000 of these fresh documents are linked to Indians. There have been celebrities and businessman on the list.
It may be recalled that Amitabh Bachchan’s name had cropped in the Panama Papers case which is also being probed by the Income Tax Department.
The ED has been probing the case since 2016 when the global leaks came to light. It later issued notices to the Bachchan family asking them to explain their foreign remittances since 2004 under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).
Aishwarya Rai had submitted records on the foreign payments under investigation. Sources say the agency wants to record her statement now.
‘The Panama Papers’ case is a sprawling investigation spanning millions of documents stolen and leaked to the media in 2016. The case involves allegations that the world’s rich and powerful set up offshore accounts or shell companies to avoid taxes.
Leaked financial records of politicians, industrialists and celebrities worldwide were reviewed and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Over 300 Indians were said to be part of the Panama Papers.